This application relates to the processing of fruits and vegetables and, more particularly, to the processing of diced fruits and vegetables to separate the pieces by size, and to remove seeds or pieces of peel.
Tomato ingredient in the form of tomato dice is prepared from whole peeled tomatoes. The mechanical peeling process is not perfect, however, and some residual tomato peel usually remains on the whole tomatoes. Conventional practice uses manual labor to remove residual peel. Typically, a 30 ton per hour operation requires 13 to 17 people to remove residual peel to a level that will comply with Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations. Once the tomatoes are diced, undesirable tomato slivers, which are smaller than pieces of desired size, must be mechanically separated from the dice with a sliver remover, e.g., of the rotary type described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,427, which is incorporated herein by reference. While automation of the entire peeling process would significantly reduce labor costs, the cost of acquiring and maintaining additional machinery would tend to offset some of the labor savings.